Michigan

Service me! And bring me some ale!

A recent coupon offer over at favorite local blog, markmaynard.com, sparked a debate about service at one of Ypsilanti's favorite destination spots, Sidetrack. Seems that some folks had service experiences that could only be described as coming from the wrong side of the tracks. Which, if you've ever been to Sidetrack, means either A) the folks at the Hudson dealership/museum moonlight slinging hash or B) I need another long break from my blog to learn some good writin' skilz.

I'm just going to give the short version of my excellent experience. I know there are some Sidetrack haters out there. Please just sit next to the yawning Sidetrack indifferenters while I indulge myself. (Order a plate of sweet potato fries, if you must.)

We walked into a very busy restaurant. The masses had gathered to squeeze one last nice day of eating outside - a rare 70 degree treat in a Michigan October. They wedged us into their only available outdoor table within minutes. Touchdown! Service - 7. Haters - 0.

We ordered our drinks and later our food. Another server or server's assistant or busser or somebody brought our our drinks. He hadn't quite arrived at our table when he stopped dead in his tracks and said something to the effect of, "...aaaaaand a fly just landed in your beer." Without skipping a beat, he said, "I'll get you another one," and turned and did just that. Now, I'm an unrepentant beer snob, but I'll pretty much swipe any flora or fauna out of my foam and chug away. If I'm lazy, it's straight to the chuggin'. So, I thought this was a nice touch. (Although I'm pretty sure any bar worth its salt would just take the glass behind the bar and do the swiping themselves. But I appreciate the show.) Goooooaaalllll! Sidetrack - 30-love.

Next, we ordered our food. I went out on a short limb and ordered pork tenderloin with mashed redskin potatoes and green beans. It just sounded yummy. We waited a reasonable amount of time and our food came out. Minus my sixth confirmed mosquito kill, nothing remarkable there. What WAS remarkable were the little disks of rhinoceros hide that grifted their way onto the spot where my pork should have been. I am MUCH less of a food snob than I am a beer snob, but if I can't chew it (with all my own original teeth, mind you) well, then we have a problem.

I looked at Mrs. FoodDude and sheepishly said that I needed to send back my meal. I would never be one of those pricks who sends back a meal and says, "This just doesn't taste right." Where do people get this stuff? You pretty much have to serve me wild animal leather-like meat or actual leather before I'll actually send something back. We're only talking about a $10 meal after all. So, I called over my server and, all bowed head and whispery, I sent my meal back. She asked me what I wanted in its place and I went with the can't-miss Sidetrack hamburger.

My replacement meal showed up in about two minutes, manager in tow. He knelt down at our table and started apologizing up and down. I let him know that I really like Sidetrack and I would never have done that blah, blah, blah... (see above). He didn't bat an eye at any of this and seemed genuinely sorry that they served me leather-food. He even went so far as to buy me a beer for my trouble. I felt this was way above and beyond the call of duty. Home run!

I know there are stories out there of bad service at Sidetrack. Mine is not one of them. I have had, at worst, slightly slow service there. Most often, it's pretty good to tell you the truth. So, quit buyin' burgers at Applepukes and get down to a real local restaurant: Sidetrack in Ypsilanti.